Peas In A Pod
The blast slammed Kaylee against the railing of the stairs with enough force to knock the breath right out of her. She crumbled back onto the floor stunned and terrified, unable to move her limbs or force any words out of her mouth. Gasping like a fish, she could see Riddick lying across the room. He'd been closest to the grenade and she could see a dent where he'd hit the wall. Her fingers scrabbled for some sort of handhold to pull herself along the floor until she saw boots and gun barrels.
"Look what we have here." A disembodied voice floated down. "Well, ain't she just the sweetest thing."
She cringed, trying to count boots and divide by two. There were too many of them and they kept blurring together, the pain in her back making it hard to keep track of her numbers. In the background, she could hear Inara protesting being dragged from her shuttle and Simon demanding to be with River. She wanted to cry but couldn't get the air before she was dragged across the floor.
"Kaylee! Kaylee, are you all right?" Simon tried to get closer to her as the men tied them together.
"Simon?" The ship was spinning around her head and she lolled against Inara, unable to sit up straight on her own. "Where's the Cap'n?"
"Inara, are her pupils dilated?" Simon asked.
"I can't tell. Kaylee, open your eyes sweetie."
"Everything's…blurry. 'Nara, is the Cap'n back yet?" She breathed in the scent of Inara's perfume and smiled, "cherry blossoms." To the other side was Riddick, the large man's head bowed and chin resting against his chest. Their captors were watching him closely, most of their guns pointed toward him should he wake.
"She could have a concussion." Simon sounded far away and tiny. "Can you tell if she hit her head?"
"Thinks I'm meili, Simon. Why don't you?" Kaylee tried to lift her head from Inara's shoulder, shooting pain in her back bringing tears to her eyes. It faded to a throbbing between her shoulder blades and then she noticed she couldn't move her toes. "Simon? Can't feel my legs. Can't feel nothin' no more. What's wrong with me, Simon?"
"She must have hit her spine, compressed the spinal cord. She needs medical attention right away. I'm a doctor."
Kaylee grimaced when she heard Simon get hit with something; sweat was dripping down her face and stinging her eyes even though she was cold as the black itself. Good news was that she seemed to have stopped falling.
"She won't be any use to you if she's paralyzed," Inara pleaded with the men around them. "She's the only mechanic in the verse who can keep this ship in the air, I suggest you let Simon tend to her."
They seemed to think on that and then Kaylee was moving again, settling on the floor and looking up. Voices were starting to tangle in the air like vines growing together.
"Hold still, Kaylee. I'm going to check your spine." Simon bent over her with concern.
"Simon," she whispered. "Where's the Cap'n?"
"He's coming. Just stay with me."
She closed her eyes as Simon felt along her neck and shoulders, rolling her to her side and sliding his hands under her shirt. World was too blurry for her to enjoy it and she wished it were under different circumstances. She knew something had gone wrong, job had gone south, and there was trouble. Trouble meant the Captain would be needing her to talk to Serenity so she lay still and waited for Simon to finish.
"I can't feel any broken vertebrae, it could be a fracture. Can you feel anything at all in your arms and legs?"
"Kinda tinglin'."
"That's a good sign. If there's no damage to the spinal cord, feeling should return on its own. She needs to be kept lying down. Any more movement and she could be paralyzed." Simon's hands were gone and she was back staring at the ceiling.
"You, back with the others." One of the armed men pulled Simon away and bound his hands behind his back like the others.
Kaylee watched, unable to do anything but blink as they assembled the rest of the crew and bound them. The bad guys were talking quietly as they rifled through the supply crates, a few casting lecherous glances toward Inara. She strained to hear what they were saying but only caught pieces of the conversation. Wash was the last person to join the crew, dragged down the stairs unconscious and bleeding from a cut on the back of his head.
The men thinned out as they spread through the ship and she could hear the squawking of their communicators. Waiting for a signal. Perhaps waiting for the Captain to return so they could tie him up too. Him and Zoe and Jayne. She kept miserably still, praying she could move her fingers if she tried really hard.
"Simon!" River sounded frightened and pulled away from the men prodding her with their boots.
"Leave her alone!" Simon struggled against his bindings, trying to protect her but only succeeding in rousing the laughter of the men and getting another boot tread to the face.
"Prefer the dark haired one myself. S'posed to be one of those fancy Companions," one of the men leered. "That one's too scrawy."
"Nah, I like 'em scrawny. And young." That one had dark, curly hair that looked like it hadn't been washed since the day he was born.
The two began to laugh and discuss details in particular they liked about Inara and River. Curly liked River's long legs and round lips while the one who looked like a rodent liked Inara's curves. The rat faced one caught a lock of Inara's hair and breathed the scent deep into his lungs. Turned Kaylee's stomach so she looked away. Her eyes widened as she saw movement beside her head. A curved blade was working its way through the cords binding Riddick's hands, his head still bowed and eyes closed. She blinked away sweat and salt, watching with her breath held as Riddick finished cutting and repositioned the blade in his hand.
"Don't touch her!" Simon was on the floor with one of the men's boots against his throat, blood on his lips and nose but still trying to stop Curly from sliding his hand along River's leg.
"Shouldn't do that. Making crocodile very angry." River told the man, her expression turning dark and ominous.
"Who's gonna stop me, sugar?" Curly laughed, crouching down to lean in close to her. "You're just a little thing."
There was a blur of movement and Kaylee winced, half afraid she was going to be stepped on by one of the pairs of boots. Snarling furiously, Riddick caught Rat Face and snapped his neck with a brutal twist. Curly barely had time to scramble to his feet before the blade sliced clean through his throat. The man holding Simon to the floor scrabbled for his gun as Riddick's hand wrapped around his throat, lifted him up off the floor, and hurled him against the wall with a crunch.
He crouched down and sliced through the ropes binding River's wrists, her small hands taking the blade as he handed it to her. Staying low, he pulled the gun and another knife from Curly's belt. River began cutting through Simon's restraints.
"Riddick!" Inara shouted a warning as two men appeared at the top of the ramp to investigate the noise.
The men dropped with a single bullet to each of them, Riddick's footsteps echoing as he hurried to the control and hit the button to close the cargo hold. Without a pause in his steps, he grabbed another of the dead man's guns and headed back toward for the stairs. Kaylee saw movement high above her on the catwalk but before she could speak, she saw Riddick raise the guns to each side and fire without a hitch in his step or a look to where he was aiming. More bodies fell from both of the catwalks, dead as can be. He was up the stairs like a panther, disappearing into the corridor with only the sound of gunfire trailing behind him.
"Kaylee, stay still!" Simon coughed, blood dripping down his chin.
"Simon, did you see that? Did you see?"
River smiled down at her as she worked to cut through the rope around Book's wrists. "Crocodile fell off the same cherry tree into the orchard grass."
Book took the blade from her hands as soon as he could and began working on freeing Inara. "We should get everyone to a safer location."
"My shuttle. There aren't any of them in there and it will be more comfortable for Kaylee. Can we risk moving her, Simon?"
"Kaylee? How are you feeling?"
"I can move a little in my toes and fingers, ain't sure I can walk about though." Kaylee moaned at the pain in her back.
"Help me find something we can set her on to carry her, something that will keep her flat." Simon winced instinctively at the sound of gunfire even though it was far away from them.
"Would a blanket work?"
"It might. If we each took an corner." He wiped the blood away from his lips as soon as his hands were free. "We should get her to the infirmary, strap her into the chair so she's stable."
"Good idea, I'll get a blanket we can use." Inara hurried away.
Kaylee smiled and tried to laugh even though it felt like nails pounding through her ribcage. "River ain't the only can do that, Simon. That means somethin', right? Means ain't nothing wrong with her, don't it?"
"Hush, try not to talk." Simon stroked her hair lightly.
"Just special training, could be the Alliance taught her how. But don't mean she's an assassin." She looked between the anxious faces hovering over her. "Could ask him where he learned it, might be he could tell us something useful."
"Later, Kaylee. We'll discuss this later." Book moved away to drag bodies toward the sides of the cargo bay where they wouldn't be stumbling blocks.
Inara returned with a heavy blanket and unfolded it on the floor. On the count of three, all four of them lifted her up onto the blanket and took a corner. It was agony to be moving at all but she kept her lips shut tight and didn't cry even when they lifted her onto the chair in the infirmary.
"I'm going to strap you in, Kaylee, and give you something for the pain." Simon looped the restraints over her and reached for a syringe.
"Wash! What about Wash?" Kaylee winced at the needle prick.
"He also needs your attention, doctor," Book said as he and Inara half carried and half dragged an unconscious Wash into the room.
"Put him on the side bed," Simon directed. He checked Kaylee's eyes one more time with a flashlight before moving to take care of Wash.
"Hold on to something," River warned, looking up at the ceiling. "Serenity's tired of standing, needs to see the sky again."
The room tilted to the right and Kaylee could here Serenity's engines fire up outside the ship. Medical supplies rattled in the cupboards and her stomach flip-flopped as the landing gear left the ground, lifting into the air.
"River?" Simon held on tightly to the wall. "Who's flying the ship?"
"Sure was a grand idea you had, Mal," Jayne grunted as he ducked down after laying another spray of bullets over their enemies' heads. "Takin' on an army…jing chai. Got anymore of those ideas?"
"More bullets, less talking, Jayne." Mal spun up and took down another of the hired guns. "These men ain't exactly provin' themselves worthy of jio weh sung chiuh. You noticed we're winning, right? "
"Strange idea of winnin' you got there."
"We ain't dead yet." He cringed as a bullet whizzed over his head and shouted into his comlink. "Wash? Anyone? I'd take anyone at this point."
"They got the ship, sir," Zoe reminded him, ducking low to reload her shotgun. "Ain't nobody there to answer who's friendly to us."
"Least they could trade witty banter."
"You'd like that, sir?"
"I'd like for them to realize we got a battle on our hands here and for them to come join the party. Brings the ship to us. All part of my brilliant plan." He grinned and raised his arm up over what was left of the wall they were using for cover and fired into the fray. All at once the bullets stopped; they heard shouting and the sound of footsteps headed away from them. Mal fired a few more rounds just because and peered over the wall to see the rest of the men running away. He eased up to his feet cautiously before looking down at Jayne and raising his eyebrows with a grin. "I do believe you owe my brilliant plan an apology."
"Sir?" Zoe nudged him with her elbow and pointed to the sky behind them. Serenity was bearing down them almost low enough to skim the tops of the trees, swinging over them with a roar and sliding into a hover above the field. "That ain't my Mister flying."
"You can tell?" Jayne started reloading again.
"Conjured it wouldn't be. Just watch who you're shooting, our own people are still on board that ship." Mal started toward Serenity, steel in his hand and his eyes. He weren't about to let some flower peddling lowlifes steal his ship and lay a hand on his crew. "Be ready for it, they'll come out guns a blazing."
They were a picture of defiance, three of them standing beneath the ship with guns in hand as she landed and the cargo door lowered. Book was standing at the control, a tuft of gray hair come undone from its binding. He waved them in and got back to dragging bodies across the cargo bay floor to dump them over the edge. Mal gave a low whistle as he surveyed the carnage.
"Guess we were wrong. Maybe Wash's havin' an off day." He shrugged but Zoe didn't seem to be convinced, her eyes still narrowed suspiciously.
"There are more bodies if you head toward the bridge," Book told them as he reached the edge.
"Guess 'Nara was worth it," Jayne snorted.
"Bu zui. Eyeballs do all this, Shepherd?" Mal was half hoping that Book would tell him someone other than Riddick had at least helped.
"That he did." Book looked toward the infirmary with a pensive look. "Kaylee was injured but Simon is looking after her and--"
"Shiny. Jayne, Zoe, there has to be somethin' worth stealin' left in that house. What do you say we get paid?" Mal grinned as he started back down the ramp. Zoe hesitated for a moment before following after him. "Show some hustle, they'll be back 'fore long and they'll bring more guns."
It didn't take long searching through the bullet-ridden ranch house to find plenty worth taking in payment, including cash money and some supplies would come in handy in the black. Once the bodies were dumped, Book joined the line hauling valuables through the field into the safety of Serenity. Mal took stock as they returned with the last load of valuables, making sure everything was stowed away and glancing in to make sure Kaylee was still breathing.
"Simon says she'll make a full recovery," Inara said as she stepped forward.
"Good. We'll be needin' her before long." Mal stared at his feet for a bit before motioning to the empty hold. "Guess I should be thankin' you. Doin' what you did. I know it ain't somethin' you'd normally have to face."
"It is what I do, Mal."
"But you did it for Serenity and I appreciate that." Inara didn't smile, averting her eyes as she walked past him and up the stairs to her shuttle. He saw Book watching him and shrugged. "Think it was something I said, Shepherd?"
"Possibly something you didn't say," Book responded, moving to his side and gazing up at her shuttle. "It was your idea to put her in that situation, knowing full well the kind of man she was dealing with. You had to have considered that he might ask for her as payment."
"I was s'posed to give him Kaylee, that it?"
"Usually the man stands between the woman and the dragon, not the other way around." Book gave him a somber look before walking away.
"He's a dragon now? First a crocodile, now a dragon. Can't he just be a gorram man for a change?" Mal muttered under his breath as he stomped up the stairs and headed for the cockpit. As he stepped past the kitchen, he felt Serenity pitch and sway, lifting off the ground. "Wash! What the gorram hell are you doing?" He jumped out of the way as Zoe stormed out of the cockpit. "Zoe?"
"I'll be in the infirmary, sir."
"Zoe?" He didn't get any answer and turned back to the bridge. "Wash? You and the missus havin' an argument? That what's making you fly all…" The words stuck in his throat as he stepped into the cockpit and saw who was flying the ship. "Tama de!"
"Might want to hold on to something," Riddick said over his shoulder.
"Thought you said you ain't got no skills past killin' people!" Mal grabbed onto the console as they leveled out and started across the terrain.
"I said…I'm a fast learner."